Genetic relationship and diversity analysis of Indian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)

Abstract

The water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is an important dairy animal on the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asian countries. The diversity and differentiation among 12 populations or breeds of buffalo were studied. Data were generated and analyzed from 527 animals belonging to 10 recognized breeds and 2 additional populations of Indian buffalo by using 22 microsatellite loci. Relationships among buffalo breeds and populations were estimated based on genetic distances. The Bayesian analysis grouped 12 populations into 8 distinctive clusters. Geographically close breeds clustered together, except for the Jaffarabadi and Murrah, which were not in geographic contiguity. The Mantel test revealed nonsignificant correlations between genetic and geographic distances. This supports the hypothesis that buffaloes have been domesticated at different places for specific purposes. The phylogenetic relationship based on microsatellite loci supported the breed classification based on body size. The Toda breed, which is considered to be endangered, had genotypes similar to those of the surrounding buffalo populations.

Evaluation of genetic variability and mutation drift equilibrium of Banni buffalo using multi locus microsatellite markers

“…The mean observed number of alleles in Banni buffalo population alone was estimated to be 5.29 which were higher than that of Marathwada (4.5) buffaloes and Tarai (4.2) and Bhadawari (4.0) buffaloes (Arora et al 2004). However, higher values were reported by Kumar et al (2006) and Vijh et al (2008b) for other Indian buffalo breeds, although the set of microsatellite loci utilized in both these studies were different from that used in the present study. The mean observed heterozygosity for Banni (0.441) and Murrah (0.464) are comparatively lower than that reported in other Indian Kathiravan et al 2008;Arora et al 2004 andKumar et al 2006) and Anatolian (Soysal et al 2005) water buffaloes.…”

Molecular cloning, sequence characterization, and gene expression profiling of a novel water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) gene, AGPAT6

“…Water buffalo contributes significantly to the agricultural economy and dairy industry in the tropical and subtropical countries (Singh et al, 2000;Khan et al, 2011;Perera, 2011). It is the second largest source of milk supply in the world, and buffalo milk contains less water and more fat, lactose, protein, and minerals than cow milk (Vijh et al, 2008;Mahmood and Usman, 2010;Yindee et al, 2010). However, the AGPAT6 gene in water buffalo has not yet been isolated and characterized, and its tissue expression has not been clear to date.…”

Microsatellite based genetic structuring reveals unique identity of Banni among river buffaloes of Western India

“…However, short tandem repeat (microsatellite) markers have been successfully used in many livestock species to unravel the genetic differentiation among different breeds/populations (Kumar et al, 2006;MacNeil et al, 2007). In case of riverine buffaloes of Western India, the genetic relationship between Jaffarabadi, Surti and Mehsana has been reported earlier by Kumar et al (2006) and Vijh et al (2008). However, Banni buffalo, an important breed of Western India with good potential for milk production was not included in these studies.…”